If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

WNN -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Puerto-Rican living in The Bronx, who has emerged as a leader among progressive Democrats, denounced Alabama’s abortion ban after it was signed into law on Wednesday night. Donkey-Chompers doesn't want Alabammy legislatards regulating nigger or beaner pussy, not even in Alabammy.

She was joined by most of the party’s presidential candidates.

“Abortion bans aren’t just about controlling women’s bodies,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “They’re about controlling women’s sexuality. Owning women. From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, U.S. religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology.

“Ultimately, this is about women’s power,” the freshman congresswoman continued. “When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy. It’s a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.”
.

Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets came shortly after Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the most restrictive reproductive legislation since 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide.

Ivey said the bill, the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, is a “powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God.”

The passage of the bill led Jenna Lowenstein, Sen. Cory Booker’s deputy presidential campaign manager, to contribute to the campaign of his rival Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Her intent was to help the New York senator qualify for the first Democratic debate “to ensure @SenGillibrand’s important perspective” is reflected on the stage. Gillibrand has made reproductive rights a signature issue in her campaign.

Alabama is one of at least seven states to pass stricter abortion laws this year. In April, Ohio passed a bill that outlaws abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Kentucky, Mississippi and Georgia have similar laws.

Hours after Alabama’s legislation — which would become enforceable in November — was signed, Missouri’s Republican-led Senate passed a wide-ranging bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy.

[Alabama bill marks the start of all-out war on abortion]

The laws have been met with legal challenges and protests. In Georgia, several television and film companies announced last week that they will no longer work in the state after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that would criminalize abortions after six weeks of gestation — before many women even know they are pregnant.

Abortion rights opponents in those states hope President Trump’s appointment of more conservative justices will lead to a successful challenge of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

“What we’re seeing now is much more of a full-frontal attack,” Elizabeth Nash, a senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told Yahoo News. “We are seeing a real shift away from the incremental strategy that dominated abortion laws for decades, and now we’re seeing the goal of banning abortion outright.”

“They are playing political games with women’s lives,” added Staci Fox, president of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates. “They know and say publicly that these laws are unconstitutional and they don’t care.”
.

WNN -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Puerto-Rican living in The Bronx, who has emerged as a leader among progressive Democrats, denounced Alabama’s abortion ban after it was signed into law on Wednesday night. Donkey-Chompers doesn't want Alabammy legislatards regulating nigger or beaner pussy, not even in Alabammy.

She was joined by most of the party’s presidential candidates.

“Abortion bans aren’t just about controlling women’s bodies,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “They’re about controlling women’s sexuality. Owning women. From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, U.S. religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology.

“Ultimately, this is about women’s power,” the freshman congresswoman continued. “When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy. It’s a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.”
.

Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets came shortly after Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the most restrictive reproductive legislation since 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide.

Ivey said the bill, the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, is a “powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God.”

The passage of the bill led Jenna Lowenstein, Sen. Cory Booker’s deputy presidential campaign manager, to contribute to the campaign of his rival Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Her intent was to help the New York senator qualify for the first Democratic debate “to ensure @SenGillibrand’s important perspective” is reflected on the stage. Gillibrand has made reproductive rights a signature issue in her campaign.

Alabama is one of at least seven states to pass stricter abortion laws this year. In April, Ohio passed a bill that outlaws abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Kentucky, Mississippi and Georgia have similar laws.

Hours after Alabama’s legislation — which would become enforceable in November — was signed, Missouri’s Republican-led Senate passed a wide-ranging bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy.

[Alabama bill marks the start of all-out war on abortion]

The laws have been met with legal challenges and protests. In Georgia, several television and film companies announced last week that they will no longer work in the state after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that would criminalize abortions after six weeks of gestation — before many women even know they are pregnant.

Abortion rights opponents in those states hope President Trump’s appointment of more conservative justices will lead to a successful challenge of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

“What we’re seeing now is much more of a full-frontal attack,” Elizabeth Nash, a senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told Yahoo News. “We are seeing a real shift away from the incremental strategy that dominated abortion laws for decades, and now we’re seeing the goal of banning abortion outright.”

“They are playing political games with women’s lives,” added Staci Fox, president of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates. “They know and say publicly that these laws are unconstitutional and they don’t care.”
.

Well, I sincerely hope Ol' Corey Booger fired the uppity little kikess. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to start suspecting that the rumors of him being a chocolate-covered cream puff are more than just rumors.

IF YOU STILL LOVE AMERIKA, YOU'RE A NIGGER-LOVER!!! ---CGO. 1/20/'09.

"Lay down your silver and your gold
I am a man who won't be sold
And even when my heart grows cold
I'll curse your evil stranglehold."---Horslips, from "Trouble With A Capital 'T'", 1977.

A U.S. district judge on Friday blocked Mississippi’s restrictive abortion law, setting the stage for more court battles as conservative lawmakers continue to challenge Roe v. Wade.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments on Tuesday over a request from Mississippi’s only remaining abortion clinic to prevent the law from going into effect on July 1.

The clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, filed a lawsuit to block the law, which bans women from obtaining an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Reeves previously struck down a law Mississippi enacted banning abortions after 15 weeks, writing in November that it “unequivocally” violated women’s constitutional rights.

The new law, which Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed in March, states that physicians who perform abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected may have their state medical licenses revoked. It permits exceptions only if the woman’s life is endangered by the pregnancy, and it does not include exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Bryant tweeted Sunday that “a new national movement has begun.”
.

.

Mississippi is one of several states in the Deep South and Midwest where lawmakers have recently passed or are poised to approve so-called “heartbeat bills.” A fetal heartbeat is typically detected at around six weeks into a pregnancy ― before many women know they’re pregnant.

Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky have also passed such laws, and Louisiana is close to passing one. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) is signed a bill criminalizing abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) recently signed the nation’s strictest abortion bill, making it a felony in the state for a doctor to perform an abortion unless the pregnant woman’s life is in danger.

Lawmakers sponsoring the abortion bans have signaled that their ultimate goal is to spark court challenges in hopes that the Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri's only abortion clinic could be closed by the end of the week because the state is threatening to not renew its license, Planned Parenthood officials said Tuesday.

Planned Parenthood officials said in a teleconference that the current license for the St. Louis facility expires Friday. If not renewed, the organization said Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

"This is not a drill," said Dr. Leana Wen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "This is not a warning. This is real and it's a public health crisis."

Planned Parenthood said the state told officials it was investigating "a large number of possible deficiencies." The state wanted to interview seven physicians, but the organization said only the two staff physicians agreed to be interviewed. Those interviews will take place later Tuesday.

Phone and email messages left for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Gov. Mike Parson's office haven't been returned.

Missouri is among half a dozen states that have passed sweeping anti-abortion measures. Parson, a Republican, signed a bill Friday banning abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Under the Missouri law that comes into force Aug. 28, doctors who violate the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. Women who terminate their pregnancies cannot be prosecuted.

Wen said a lawsuit has been filed to try and keep the St. Louis clinic open. If it closes, the nearest clinics performing abortions are in a Kansas suburb of Kansas City and in Granite City, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Wen said Missouri has "illegally weaponized the licensing process." Colleen McNicholas, an OB-GYN at the Planned Parenthood office in St. Louis, called it the "natural consequence of several decades of restriction after restriction."

"This is precisely what we've been warning of," McNicholas said.

Alabama's governor signed a bill on May 15 making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Supporters have said they hope to provoke a legal challenge that will eventually force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationally.

Unlike Alabama's near-total abortion ban, lawmakers who helped draft the Missouri bill say it's meant to withstand court challenges instead of spark them. If the eight-week ban is struck down, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits at 14, 18 or 20 weeks.

Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Missouri Right to Life called it "the strongest pro-life bill in Missouri history."

Kentucky , Mississippi , Ohio and Georgia also have approved bans on abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Some of those laws already have been challenged in court, and similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down by judges. Nonetheless, the rash of new legislation has left abortion providers in some of those states uncertain about what they can now do.

Even before the latest legislation, Missouri already had some of the most restrictive abortion regulations in the nation, including a requirement that doctors performing abortions have partnerships with nearby hospitals.

A total of 3,903 abortions occurred in Missouri in 2017, the last full year for which the state Department of Health and Senior Services has statistics online. Of those, 1,673 occurred at under nine weeks and 119 occurred at 20 weeks or later in a pregnancy.

A total of 2,910 abortions occurred in 2018 in Missouri, according to provisional data provided by the health agency. That includes 433 abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy and 267 at six weeks or earlier.

McNicholas said there is "a tremendous amount of confusion" among women who come to the Planned Parenthood clinic because of all of the recent laws.

A Jasper County judge assessed a Joplin man five years in prison Friday when he entered a plea to abuse of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son.

Adam J. Duncan, 28, entered an Alford plea in Jasper County Circuit Court to a single count of child abuse in a plea agreement with the prosecutor's office that dismissed a second count of the same offense and limited the prison time he might receive to no more than five years. He was facing up to seven years on each count.

An Alford plea admits no guilt but acknowledges that a conviction is likely if the case were to proceed to trial. Circuit Judge Gayle Crane accepted the plea deal and assessed Duncan the agreed-upon sentence.

The son of Duncan's girlfriend, Haley K. Simpson, 26, was taken to a Joplin hospital Dec. 6 with bruising to his head, thighs and the backs of his hands, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Assistant Prosecutor Taylor Haas said at the sentencing hearing Friday that the boy also had bruising on the tops of his feet.

The boy testified at a preliminary hearing April 2 that Duncan wrapped his hand in cloth and hit him several times in the head Dec. 5 when he was left in Duncan's care by his mother. The boy disclosed that he told his grandmother when she came to pick him up the next day that Duncan had been punching him in the head and hurting him with a pillow.

A second count pertaining to toilet training of the boy in May of last year was dismissed by the plea agreement. The accusation in that case was that Duncan had spanked the boy with his bare hand whenever he failed to make proper use of the toilet, leaving finger-shaped bruises on his buttocks and waistline.

The boy's mother also was charged with two felony counts of abuse in the initial investigation of the case by Joplin police and the Missouri Department of Social Services. She pleaded guilty to a reduced count of child endangerment March 27 and received a suspended imposition of sentence and probation.

.

----------------------------------------------------

David Humphreys donates $1M to committee backing referendum on abortion law

Joplin businessman and frequent GOP donor David Humphreys has contributed $1 million to a newly created committee that aims to take Missouri's controversial abortion law to the voters.

The donation from Humphreys, who is president and CEO of TAMKO Building Products Inc., was received on Thursday by the Committee to Protect the Rights of Victims of Rape & Incest, according to documents filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The documents show that the committee exists to support a referendum on the November 2020 ballot of House Bill 126, legislation that bans abortion in the state at eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The bill, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, was signed into law recently by Republican Gov. Mike Parson.

In a statement from Ken Spain, a consultant for Humphreys, the Joplin businessman said: “We remain committed to pursuing a referendum on HB126 and are prepared to take the necessary steps, including available legal remedies, to ensure women and underage minors who are victims of rape and incest have a greater voice on this issue.”

Humphreys' $1 million donation visibly thrusts him into the political fight over abortion in Missouri, but he had spoken publicly against the new abortion law for several weeks.

"...I believe it was poorly thought out and passed without appropriate public debate," he said of House Bill 126 in a statement in late May. "A bill this restrictive, without the opportunity for exceptions for rape and incest, is bad public policy and bad for Missourians.

"It is a very difficult subject. And a very personal one with complicated moral issues for all involved. While I am personally opposed to abortion, I do support a woman’s right to choose, particularly in the case of rape or incest. And I have to believe that the politicians in Jeff City that voted for this bill would themselves support their wives' or daughters’ right to choose if their loved ones were raped."

Efforts to get the abortion law on the ballot faced new challenges this week when Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft rejected two referendum petitions aimed at repealing the law — one backed by the ACLU of Missouri and the other backed by Humphreys.

Ashcroft cited a provision in the Missouri Constitution that prohibits referendums on legislation that has already taken effect. Although the ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy will take effect on Aug. 28, a section of the bill that changed parental consent laws for minors seeking abortions took effect as soon as it was signed into law.

Ashcroft said his office was still reviewing a third and slightly different referendum petition that was filed by attorney Lowell Pearson, who represents the Committee to Protect the Rights of Victims of Rape & Incest. Pearson said the committee's referendum petition does not seek to force a vote on provisions in the legislation that are already in effect.

Previous efforts

It's not the first time David Humphreys has publicly waded into the political arena, having previously been involved in the fight over right-to-work legislation a few years ago.

Missouri lawmakers in 2015 passed a right-to-work bill, which was vetoed by then-Gov. Jay Nixon. About 20 Republicans voted with Democrats later that year to sustain Nixon’s veto.

Humphreys donated heavily to unseat Republicans who voted to uphold the veto, including airing an ad during a Kansas City Royals game in 2016 that instructed people to go to a website that showed them how to decertify a union.